Elise Cranny, a 2014 Niwot graduate, sliced more than 14 seconds off Shalane Flanagan’s existing American indoor record in the women’s 5000m with a 14:33.17 to place second at the Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University on Friday. Cranny, an Olympic finalist at Tokyo last summer, covered the final 3000m of her race in 8:32.43 as she moved to No. 6 on the all-time world indoor performer list.
By Jonathan Gault / Let’s Run
With two kilometers to go, there looked to be a very real possibility that Flanagan‘s record might endure one more night. Monday marked the 13th anniversary of Flanagan’s record of 14:47.62 — a mark set so long ago that Flanagan said until recently she forgot she still owned the record. And when US champion Cranny passed 3,000 meters in 8:57.41 (five seconds slower than the record-pace split of 8:52) it seemed quite unlikely that Cranny would break the record by more than 14 seconds — and not even win the race.
Yet, through a combination of a super track, super spikes, and no small amount of talent and hard work, Cranny and her Canadian Bowerman Track Club teammate Gabriela DeBues-Stafford blitzed the last 10 laps and wound up smashing Flanagan’s continental and national records, DeBues-Stafford overtaking Cranny on the last lap to win in 14:31.38 as Cranny settled for second in a huge American record of 14:33.17.
The closing splits were scarcely believable. A week ago at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, DeBues-Stafford ran 8:33.92 to take 12+ seconds off the Canadian indoor 3,000-meter record. Tonight, she ran her final 3k in 8:30.83 — almost as fast as the open personal bests of Jenny Simpson (8:29.58) and Shannon Rowbury (8:29.93), two recent American superstars. Included in that 8:30.83 was a final 1600 of 4:25.72 and last lap of 30.81, which was enough to drop Cranny, who had opened up a 10-meter gap on DeBues-Stafford with 800 to go but had no answer for the Canadian’s kick. Cranny’s American record was well-deserved, as she was the one who started dropping 33-second laps after a string of 35’s and 36’s in the earlygoing, and her closing splits (8:32.43 last 3k, 4:27.81 last 1600) were almost as fast as DeBues-Stafford’s.